Moritz Volz

Moritz Volz (born 21 January 1983) is a German former professional footballer, media pundit and scout. He is the assistant coach at Galatasaray.
Volz played as a right-back with Schalke, Arsenal, Wimbledon, Fulham, Ipswich Town, FC St. Pauli and TSV 1860 Munich.
Club career
Early career
Volz was born in Siegen and started his career in his native Germany at FC Schalke 04 before being spotted by Arsenal while playing for the German youth team. He was offered a contract and joined the Gunners in the summer of 1999. Volz's debut for the Gunners came in a League Cup defeat to Ipswich Town in 2000. With the club's academy, Volz also won the FA Youth Cup in 2000 and 2001. He made another appearance for Arsenal's first team a year later in a League Cup defeat to Sunderland. In February 2003, he was loaned out to Wimbledon, where he impressed by scoring on his debut against Brighton and going on to make nine further appearances for the Dons. He returned from loan in the summer of the same year before joining Fulham, again on loan, in August 2003. The move was made permanent in January 2004.
Fulham
At Fulham, Volz attained cult-figure status with the fans, in part due to his commitment, passion and community involvement. He was also popular with the club's faithful given that he rode his bicycle to home games. He had several nicknames at Craven Cottage, such as '220 Volz', 'The Electrician', 'Mr Resistor', 'The Hoff' due to his adulation of David Hasselhoff, 'The Lightbulb' and the rather simple 'Volzy'. For the match against Aston Villa on Saturday 21 October 2006, he had 'The Hoff' written on his boots for good luck and promptly scored his first goal in three years.
Volz signed a contract extension on 9 December 2006, which kept him at the club until 2009.
On 30 December 2006, he went on to score the 15,000th goal in Premier League history for Fulham against Chelsea. Inevitably, this feat gave birth to the new nickname '15,000 Volz'. As he scored that goal, Volz donated £15,000 to three charitable organisations: Kick 4 Life, The Prince's Trust, and Fulham Football Club's Community charity. In July 2008, Volz was awarded PPF Community Champion Award, which is associated with The Observer newspaper.
On 28 August 2008, he signed for Championship side Ipswich Town on a season-long loan deal. Volz joined the club as he hoped to help the Tractor Boys get promoted to the Premier League. Altogether he was capped a total of 22 times for the club.
On 1 July 2009, he was released from Fulham as he came to the end of his contract and was so praised by the club for his loyal service. Volz sent a farewell message to Fulham supporters upon the club's website. While on the lookout for a new team he kept training with the club to maintain his fitness and also did media work for Sky Sports at the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.
On 2 January 2010, Volz got a trial with former club FC Schalke 04. He joined the team at Chiclana de la Frontera for a training camp.
FC St. Pauli
Volz eventually joined up with FC St. Pauli on 15 June 2010, signing a two-year contract. He made his debut on 5 November 2010 against Schalke.
1860 Munich
Volz joined TSV 1860 Munich on 5 June 2012, signing a three-year contract. At 1860 Munich he won the 2014–15 2. Bundesliga relegation playoffs, with the club thus staying within the league. Volz went on to declare an end to his playing days soon afterward.
International career
Although Volz was not part of the German team that reached the semi-finals of the World Cup on home soil in 2006, he was an ever-present force in Dieter Eilts' successful under-21 side. He helped the team qualify for the European Championships in summer 2006. Volz was included in the senior squad for the 17 November 2004 game in Leipzig against Cameroon but did not appear on the field.
Scouting and media work
Volz wrote for The Times and worked as a pundit for Sky Sports, Setanta Sports and ITV while playing in the UK. He later worked as a colour commentator for DAZN in Germany.
After his retirement in the summer of 2015 Volz worked as a scout for TSV 1860 and he is currently Arsenal's main German scout.
Career statistics
Honours
Arsenal
FA Youth Cup: 1999–2000, 2000–01
Individual
Fulham Player of the Month: January 2007
References
External links
Interview in The Guardian
1983 births
Sportspeople from Siegen
Footballers from Arnsberg (region)
Living people
German men's footballers
Men's association football defenders
Germany men's under-21 international footballers
Germany men's youth international footballers
FC Schalke 04 players
Arsenal F.C. players
Wimbledon F.C. players
Fulham F.C. players
Ipswich Town F.C. players
FC St. Pauli players
TSV 1860 Munich players
Premier League players
English Football League players
Bundesliga players
2. Bundesliga players
Association football scouts
German expatriate men's footballers
German expatriate sportspeople in England
Expatriate men's footballers in England
Galatasaray S.K. (football) non-playing staff